afternoon, and by then you are
greeted by a room filled with people.
So, in this case, HIPAA seems more
of a formality but something you try
to do even when it is impossible in
this set-up. At least, giving the
illusion of protecting privacy by
drawing the flimsy curtain even
though everyone inside the room can
hear you appear sufficient. HIPAA
violation: technically yes, but
authorities turn a blind eye because
you have to do your job and there’s
no way around it so in reality no.
They say so long as patient
identifiers are left out you act in
accordance with HIPAA. One
morning as a fresh brand new
attending trying to get my job done
and living the urban life I
inadvertently had to get some
information while riding on the bus.
It was very noisy I tried my best not
to mention names but couldn’t hear
clearly so asked my colleague to
repeat some statements. As luck
would have it, I was sitting across
from someone who worked in a
hospital. She corrected me that I was
violating HIPAA. I wracked my
brains trying to recall my
conversation, did I mention any
names? Although names are
identifiers, if you are discussing
information or even writing about a
previous case in a novel, if someone
“ Sometimes when you are
rounding, and there is
only a curtain that serves
as a partition between two
patients how does one get
around it? Does it violate
HIPAA when discussing
someone’s care when you
are clearly within earshot
of someone else?”
Virginia Thornley, MD
is still identifiable that is a violation
of HIPAA. I swore to myself never
again will I allow myself to be put in
that position again. HIPAA
violation: yes, because someone
might still be able to identify that
person hearing the information.
Going down an elevator, physicians
are always reminded not to discuss
care even without patient identifiers. A
few years after this incident above, a
colleague started to ask questions
about a commo